Mississippi Sea Wolves

The Mississippi Sea Wolves have signed right wing Justin Cross and defenseman Pat Oliveto. Cross, 25, played 73 games for Kalamazoo of the UHL last season, scoring 26 goals and 55 points with 28 penalty minutes. The 5'10" 185 lbs forward is entering his second season of professional hockey. Oliveto, 23, received a 7 game amateur tryout last season with Reading of the ECHL where he had 1 assist and two penalty minutes.

Both players are alumni of Niagara University of the Division I CHA. Cross' best college season came in 2003-2004 as a sophomore when he scored 12 goals and 29 points in 34 games with 14 penalty minutes. Oliveto posted his best college season last year as a senior with 2 goals, 21 points, and 26 penalty minutes in 36 games.

The Mississippi Sea Wolves have announced the signing of enforcer Bill Kinkel. The 23 year old left winger split last season between Florida and Utah of the ECHL scoring 6 goals and adding 167 penalty minutes in 47 games. Originally a 9th round pick of the New Jersey Devils in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, Kinkel has one full season of AHL experience on his resume having played 56 games for Houston in 2005-2006 scoring 3 goals, 6 points, and racking up 190 penalty minutes. The 6'5" 239 lbs. forward played his junior hockey for Kitchener and Kingston of the OHL. His career season came in his final year of junior in 2003-2004 for the Frontenacs when he had 12 goals and 23 points with 174 penalty minutes in 62 games.

The Mississippi Sea Wolves have announced the signing of veteran fan favorite Travis Lisabeth. The 27 year old left winger played four seasons for the Sea Wolves before spending the last two with Edinburgh of the British EIHL and Columbus of the ECHL in 2005-2006 and Phoenix, Pensacola, and Cincinnati of the ECHL last season. The 6'0" 200 lbs forward scored 20 goals and 51 points in 60 games last season with 85 penalty minutes. Lisabeth's career season came in 2004-2005 with Mississippi when he scored 26 goals and 59 points in 70 games. He played his four year junior hockey career for Kitchener and Kingston of the OHL.

The slow process of reassembling the Mississippi Sea Wolves continued today with the Wolves' acquisition of defenseman Matthew Deschamps from the Phoenix Roadrunners in exchange for financial considerations. Deschamps, 27, had 2 goals and 9 points with 94 penalty minutes in 2006-2007 split between Charlotte and Phoenix. The 6'0" 195 lbs blueliner is a graduate of the University of Maine. His career season in college came as a senior in 2004-2005 when he posted 1 goal and 7 points with 30 penalty minutes in 29 games. The trade may ultimately re-unite Deschamps with his former Black Bears teammate Mike Lundin who will find himself in a battle to make the AHL level with Norfolk once camp begins in the Fall. The two played together during the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 seasons.

According to the Mississippi Sea Wolves website, the club has signed forward Torry Gajda. The 24 year old winger split last season between Cincinnati and Pensacola of the ECHL scoring 11 goals and 33 points in 49 games with 65 penalty minutes in his rookie season of professional hockey. Standing at 5'9" and 190 lbs, Gajda is an alum of Providence College. Gajda's career season in college came as a senior in 2005-2006 when he potted 14 goals and 34 points in 36 games.

First off, Bolt Prospects apologizes for being down last night. Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties with the ISP that our server runs on that took about 12 hours to remedy. The site is up and running again now and we don't foresee any related problems in the near future.

Second, stay tuned to Bolt Prospects over the next few weeks as we are expecting to get a glimpse at the preliminary roster for the Traverse City prospect tournament pretty soon.

With all of that out of the way, the flurry of free agent signings that came in the first three weeks of July seems to have subsided. The team now has 47 players under contract that will count against the 50-man roster limit, with Ryan Craig remaining to be signed who will be the 48th. For the most part the roster is set, which offers the opportunity to speculate on how the Lightning's organizational roster and lines will look at the NHL, AHL and ECHL level.

The Mississippi Sea Wolves have announced the signing of center Mark Hurtubise. The 23 year old center played last year for Long Beach of the ECHL notching 17 goals and 41 points in 71 games. The previous season, his rookie season of pro hockey, was spent with Adirondack of the UHL where he scored 24 goals and 66 points in 68 games. The 6'2" 185 lbs pivot played four seasons of junior hockey in the QMJHL with Quebec and Val d'Or. His career season came in 2004-2005 when he scored 18 goals and 55 points in 53 games. Hurtubise is just the third player under contract in Mississippi along with defenseman Chris Cava and forward Kyle McCullough.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed defenseman Mike Lundin to a two-year, entry level contract, Executive Vice President and General Manager Jay Feaster announced.

Lundin, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound native of Apple Valley, Minnesota, spent the 2006-07 season with the University of Maine Black Bears. During his senior year he played in all 40 games and scored six goals with a total of 20 points. He tied for the team lead in goals by a defenseman and ranked second in points by defensemen. Lundin scored five goals on the power play and ranked first on the team among defensemen, tied for sixth overall. He set career highs for goals, points and power-play goals.

The Mississippi Sea Wolves, the Lightning's new ECHL affiliate, have announced the signing of NCAA Division III star Kyle McCullough out of the University of Massachussetts-Dartmouth. McCullough, a forward, scored 64 goals and 154 points in 111 games during his college career. He becomes the second Mississippi player under contract for the 2007-2008 season along with veteran defenseman Chris Cava who was signed earlier this offseason.

Six weeks after more or less terminating their ECHL affiliation with the Johnstown Chiefs, the Tampa Bay Lightning issued a press release today reporting that the team has entered into a one-year affiliation agreement with the Mississippi Sea Wolves of the ECHL. The Sea Wolves will serve as the Lightning's primary ECHL player developmental home for the 2007-2008 season. This marks a return by the Lightning organization to the Gulf Coast region and the ECHL Southeast Division, as Tampa had a multi-season affiliation with the Pensacola Ice Pilots prior to the affiliation with Johnstown.